Amy leaned on the shovel's handle and watched as Mabel ran, screaming, from the angry rooster. The hens clucked and fluttered out of the way as the two ran past, scattering feathers in the wake. Bud, normally calm, was barking loudly at them from a distance. Suddenly, Mabel tripped and the rooster jumped at her, but Amy was already upon them and blocked the chicken with the shovel head. The rooster's talons scraped against the metal then the chicken dropped to its feet and tilted his head to look at Amy. After making a few curious clucking noises it turned and strutted away calmly as if nothing happened.

Mabel sat up, panting. "Oh boy, I thought that crazy chicken was gonna get me for sure!"

Amy stuck the shovel head into the ground. "I told you, if you run, he's going to chase you."

"I know, he's just so scary!"

"What's all the commotion out here?" Dipper asked as he approached.

Amy shrugged. "Your sister insists on befriending the rooster, but he disagrees. I mean, it's kind of his job to protect the hens and the eggs."

"Why doesn't he attack you?" Dipper asked.

"I raised him. Also, I have a shovel." She pulled the shovel from the ground and walked off to place it inside the old barn. She looked around as she exited the barn. "Alright, everything looks to be in order… for now. If you two don't mind, I'm just going to be lazy today and read a book. I trust you can entertain yourselves?"

"I will do my best to keep Mabel away from the chickens," Dipper saluted as his sister took off excitedly somewhere.

Amy shook her head with a small smile then walked over to the pond and sat at the weeping willow's base. The tree was old and its branches and tendrils were long and hung low, almost touching the surface of the water. Sitting beneath the old tree on nice days was relaxing, enchanting even, as the green tendrils swayed slightly with the breeze. The shady curtain it made was peaceful and gave off a strange sense of security. She was so relaxed that she almost didn't hear Bud's footsteps as the dog brought over a black book with a pen hanging from its spine and placed it in her lap. "I wanted to read," she smiled at her dog. "This is my sketch book."

"Oh?" a voice from above caused them both to look up. Bill was sitting amongst the base of the branches and looking down at them. "What do you draw?"

"Usually whatever I see, but I haven't drawn in a long time." She watched him jump down from the tree and sit down beside her all in one quick movement. "What are you climbing trees for?"

"Why? Are you worried?" He snatched up the book and began to skim through it.

"No, not really." She laughed and took the book back. "Should I be?" She looked through a few old sketches of animals and creatures that she remembered seeing and drawing. The last drawing was of the tree hanging over the pond; the drawings were well kept.

"You should be, but not for me." He crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back against the tree.

Amy flipped the page and began to draw. "Good thing I'm not then," she smirked. After a moment of silently drawing she spoke again. "Yesterday, you heard it too, right?" She looked up at him. "In the forest."

"Nope."

"Liar," she sniffed.

"Then why did you bother asking?"

"I usually hear whispers there every now and then, but that eerie silence was different. It was like everything was holding its breath, even you." Amy eyed Bill, but as usual his expression was unreadable.

After a moment he looked at her. "Well it's not me that it wants. If anything, it just wants me to leave."

"What is it?"

"You don't know?" he laughed slightly.

She waited a moment for an explanation, but he seemed to have gotten distracted watching her draw, or maybe he just didn't want to explain. Either way, Amy decided that it likely wasn't a threat, at least not to them. She looked up briefly to catch a glimpse of the twins standing near the sheep fence and wondered if she should tell them to stay out of that part of the woods. Maybe she should tell them not to go there, at least not without her, but then again that might make them want to go.

Sensing her slight unease and hesitation, Bud stood up and trotted around the pond.

"Hey there old doggy," Mabel patted the dog's head as he came to a stop in front of her. Bud sniffed at her feet then looked up with his tail wagging and tongue hanging out. "Do you want to play with us?" He barked. "All right!"

"Wasn't one of Amy's rules not to mess with the sheep?" Dipper asked as his sister climbed over the wooden gate.

"Don't be such a downer," Mabel laughed. "You comin' or what?"

He looked confused. "Eh, no thanks. I'll pass. I'm going to go check out that fairy door again." As Dipper headed back towards the house, Bud glanced from brother to sister and eventually followed after him.

Upon entering the house, Dipper noticed that it was very quiet, aside from Stan's snoring and the TV of course. He figured Ford was likely in his room, probably working on some kind of new gadget or experiment. "Maybe I should start keeping a journal," he mused aloud as he examined the tiny door in the wall. Bud whimpered and walked to the stairs, stopping just at the base before turning back to look at the boy. "What is it, boy?" As Dipper approached, the dog began to climb the stairs. He waited at the top for Dipper before walking down the hallway.

For a moment Dipper was uneasy as he stared down the dark hallway. The upstairs lights were off and there were no windows in the hallway. It was actually the first time that he had gone up the stairs as everything he needed was on the first floor. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness he was able to locate Bud standing patiently by a closed door to the left; it was the only door on that side. As he came to the door Bud began sniffing at its base as if the dog wanted to go inside. Dipper tried to look through the keyhole but could only see a curtain-covered window whose light faintly outlined what looked to be a grand piano covered by a white sheet. "Amy's room is the attic," he mumbled. "So, what's in there?" Standing up straight, he slowly turned the cold bronze doorknob and was surprised to find that it was not locked. The old door creaked on its hinges as it slowly opened on its own weight. Dipper was hesitant to enter the dark room, but Bud stepped inside almost as soon as the door was fully open. "Well, she never mentioned any rules about going in here," he said as he entered as well and felt for a light switch. Finally, he located the switch and flipped it on. As the lights came on he found himself face-to-face with a full velociraptor skeleton; he yelled and fell backwards, breathing heavily. Bud was quickly at his side sniffing him over. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he brushed himself off.

As his breathing steadied, he looked around to find that the room was very large and took up the majority of the left side of the second floor. There were two windows both covered by dark blue curtains, one across from the door while the other was at the other end of the room where the front of the house was. The room itself was filled with all sorts of items and knickknacks but for the most part it was neat and organized in its own way and the center of the room was kept clear aside from a strange red and gold colored rug splayed out on the floor. The objects appeared to be from places all over the world, from vases to jewelry to figurines and books, as well as many other artifacts. Some items looked new while others appeared ancient but despite the cold empty feeling there wasn't a speck of dust to be found.

"Whoa," he looked around curiously at the vast number of items; large objects on the floor and smaller, less heavy-looking ones resting on tables and shelves. He stopped at the edge of the rug to examine the strange pattern displayed on it. The rug itself was a dark red and golden lines and markings along it formed the image of what looked like a western style dragon breathing fire. There were images of lightning depicted above it as well as rain drops and lines that seemed to represent blowing winds. At its feet were flowers and stones, and the earth cracking under its claws. "Something to do with the elements maybe?" he thought aloud. The image of the creature was fearsome but at the same time it gave off a sense of balance and harmony.

Bud's bark broke his focus and he looked up to see the dog staring up at dark red, wooden pedestal. Atop the pedestal was a dull brown book with the same image as the rug displayed on its cover, but silver instead of gold. Not wanting to step on the rug, Dipper maneuvered around it to where the pedestal and book were and carefully opened the book. After flipping though a bunch of pages he looked down at Bud. "It's blank," he closed the book to examine the cover, "but there's some weird writing on the front. I've never seen symbols like this. I wonder what it means." He picked up the book and hurried out of the room, across the hall, and knocked on Ford's door.

"Dipper," Ford looked a bit surprised when he opened the door. "Did something happen? What do you have there?"

"Great Uncle Ford," he held the book up for him to see. "Check this out! This book looks ancient, but it's completely blank."

Ford skimmed through the book and, sure enough, it was all blank. "Hm. Where did you get this?"

"In the room across the hall," Dipper said. "Uh… Bud led me to it." The dog entered upon hearing his name and barked once at the sight of the book.

"Dipper, you can't just go through Amy's belongings…" He examined the cover. "These symbols… I've never seen these before."

Dipper ignored his first statement. "Darn, I was hoping you knew what they said. Maybe I should ask Amy, but she might get mad at me for going through her stuff. But it's not like the door was locked…"

.

.

.

Amy shut her book as she finished drawing and stared hard through the willow tendrils at Mabel who was in the sheep pen. Without a word, she stood up straight and walked over to the pen. Bill nosily followed her. She stopped at the gate, head tilted, and a confused look on her face, as she watched Mabel decorating the sheep with colorful bows and glitter. Some of them even had little stars sticking to their wool. The sheep obviously didn't care as they simply continued to graze while she decorated them. "What in all of creation did you do to my sheep?!" Amy shouted.

Mabel smiled widely. "I made them stand out from each other! Now you can tell who's who and they have style." She placed a pair of glasses on the sheep beside her.

"Sheep aren't supposed to stand out from each other," Amy said. "And that's what they have ear tags for! Darn it, Mabel! I raise sheep to sell their wool. Now I'm going to have to clean the glitter out."

Before Mabel could retort, Dipper came running up to them with Bud and Ford not far behind. "Amy, I… What happened to the sheep?"

"Your sister, that's what." Amy huffed then noticed the book he was holding. "Why do you have that?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… Bud wanted to go into that room upstairs and… Sorry. I just wanted to know what these symbols on the front mean, and why is the book blank?"

Behind Amy, Bill narrowed his eye. Amy stared down at the book for a long moment, as if debating something. "That… was my father's. It's called the Enchiridion, but the symbols say 'All Knowing.'"

"'All Knowing?'" he echoed. "But it's empty."

"Yes," she nodded. "It's magic."

Mabel leapt over the fence at the word. "Magic!? Like unicorns and fairies?"

"Ugh, unicorns…" Amy looked annoyed for a moment. "The Enchiridion is supposedly infused with dragon magic, hints the cover image. Words and images appear in response to questions, but it doesn't always respond. It depends on what you want to know I guess."

"No way, really?" he looked excited. "How does it work?"

"Yeah, show us!" Mabel chimed in.

She thought for a moment. "Hm… Where is my dog?"

The book suddenly flew open in Dipper's hands and quickly flipped through several pages before coming to a stop. A holographic-like image sprung from the pages, showing the old bloodhound sniffing around the chicken coop. They looked back to see that the dog was in fact there as it had shown.

"That's incredible," Ford remarked. "Why, you can even hear the sounds as well! So, this 'book' shows real time occurrences?"

She shrugged. "Past or present but not the future. My father used it for research. It was gifted to him."

"By who?"

Amy went silent. "Um… a friend of my mother's. Hm, you can hold onto it for a while if you want."

"Really?!" The twins were excited.

"You're going to let those pests use the Enchiridion as they please?" Bill shot her a look.

She returned the glare. "What's it to you? It's my book. Besides, only dragon magic can damage or destroy it, so it's not like they'll mess it up." She huffed and turned away from him.

"Ugh."

.

.

.

"She gave it to them…"

"He's still there."

"He'll be there for some time. You know that… He knows we're watching."

"…I know… His powers are…broken. We could kill him."

"I could never."

"I could."

"You won't."

"Oh?"

"…You won't. It wouldn't stop what's to come anyhow. Ragnarok doesn't need him anymore."

"Hiss…" "Don't speak that name!"

"Fine. Let's go to Gaia."

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.

.

The two siblings and Bud sat around the book placed on the floor in their room and stared at it, thinking. "What should we ask it?" Mabel spoke up. She gasped. "We could ask it about Amy's parents!"

Dipper seemed hesitant. "Hmm, I guess… Okay, Enchiridion, what exactly happened to Amy's parents?" The book was unresponsive.

"Try something else," Mabel said.

"Okay. How…old are you?" The book flipped open to its first page and strange symbols began to appear. "It's those weird symbols again, like on the cover."

"Aw," his sister said. "Can't this thing write in normal letters?" An 'X' appeared on the page in response to her question.

"I guess that one means no," Dipper crossed his arms. "I got it! Enchiridion, show us where you're from."

The book flipped through several pages before stopping and producing an image in front of them. It was showing a dark, lush forested area, thick with trees and producing little light aside from shafts that poked through the treetop canopy. The image faded and formed into another, this one showing a similar area. In the center was a tunnel of leafless brown trees whose trunks curved out and branches intertwined overhead.

"Is that a tunnel?"

"Do you think it goes somewhere?" Mabel leaned forward. "That place kind of reminds me of that part of the forest Amy showed us. We should go check it out!"

"Now? It's getting kind of late. What if we get lost?"

She rolled her eyes. "Pfft, don't be silly! We've got a super smart magic book. And if that fails, we've got…" she gestured to Bud with jazz hands. "Ta-da! A sniffer dog!" Bud tilted his head.

"Sniffer dog?" Dipper repeated. "Right. Well, I mean, you're not wrong."

"Of course I'm not. Let's go!"

To be continued…